LittleNYCKitchen

Summer Arugula Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

The Recipe Link: Two Peas & Their Pod

The Inspo to Make: I was looking for a filling salad (carbs in addition to greens lol) for ~6 people that celebrated summer produce! Although not very visible in the photo, this salad contains both arugula and pearl couscous.

My Takes:

• The cheddar cheese here was a bit of a surprise choice (I probably would have gone with something like feta, cotija or parmesan upon my initial read of the recipe) but I loved the way it worked with everything.
• Cucumber was not in the recipe, but my friend Sara brought a fresh one grown in her coworkers garden so we had to incorporate! (P.S. where do I find these types of coworkers!?)
• Did you know you can microwave corn on the cob…straight in the husk? Pop two in the microwave for 4 minutes, let cool, cut off the end and the husk just slides off.

Corn Salad with Mango and Halloumi

The Recipe Link: NYT Cooking

The Inspo to Make: If it isn’t clear from my Instagram, I literally love corn. I also never really buy mangos in NYC so wanted to take the opportunity while on the west coast to eat as many as possible!

My Takes:

• Biggest regret here was not pan frying or grilling the halloumi cheese – it was a timing issue on my end and I didn’t want to keep everyone waiting to eat. My biggest fear is my family and friends feel like this
• Omitted cilantro (too controversial for the group) and cut down the mint amount a bit since I find mint very overpowering
• The store only had white corn on the cob (unless I wanted to buy pre-shucked and packaged yellow corn for 120% more $$), but next time I’ll go for sweet yellow!

Chopped Salad with Jalapeño Ranch Dressing

The Recipe Link: NYT Cooking

The Inspo to Make: This was the recipe of the day a few weeks ago and I saved it to my ‘to cook’ list right away. I am not extremely enthusiastic about finely chopping a ton of vegetables, but my friend Krupa is the best and most passionate chopper I know and immediately said yes to making this a few Friday nights ago. She was on chopping duty and I made some southwest marinated chicken to add into the salad to make it a whole meal.

My Takes:

• Homemade ranch dressing is soo worth it! Wish I had doubled to eat with a different salad the next day.
• Tortilla chips were crumbled on top (and this salad was mixed before consuming) but we were all about getting the aesthetically pleasing shot.

The Best Homemade Caesar Salad

The Recipe Link: Completely Delicious

The Inspo to Make: A few weekends ago, I was having coffee in Washington Square Park with my friend Nicole. In addition to the usual people watching, we were discussing recipes/meals/food (also a part of our usual conversation) and she forwarded me this Caesar Salad recipe. I believe this came up because we were recapping our dinner at Monkey Bar and how fun it would be to recreate their Smoked Whitefish Caesar Salad! After we parted ways, I went right to the grocery store to grab the outstanding ingredients needed to make this salad and had it for lunch!

My Takes:

• I’d make my breadcrumbs a little smaller next time!
• Does anyone have any additional uses or recipes for anchovy paste? Sad to report I haven’t used it since I made this dressing!